Violence in schools - Trends and Correlates

• In Event: School Violence and Bullying: Research and Theory across Continents

Abstract

In the public perception, violence at school is a problem that has increased considerably in recent years. This presentation examines the development of physical and psychological violence at school using data from a regularly conducted representative survey of ninth graders in Lower Saxony. Overall, a decline in physical and psychological school violence and victimization can be observed from 2013 to 2019. In 2019, for example, around one in seven adolescents were victims of physical violence at least once and around one in ten adolescents were perpetrators in the last six months of school. The presentation also provides evidence of gender and school type differences, and was able to identify a pronounced victim-offender overlap. Finally, significant correlations were found between school violence and accompanying school and psychological symptoms. The more often students are victims and perpetrators of physical and psychological violence at school, the worse they rate their school commitment, the more they skip school and the lower their average school grades (physical violence only). In terms of psychological side-effects, it is also noticeable that depressive and anxiety symptoms increase with the frequency of physical and psychological victimization. Regarding substance use, there is a significant positive correlation between the perpetration of both types of violence and the use of alcohol, cannabis and hard drugs.

Authors

• Yvonne Krieg, Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony

• Leonie Dreißigacker, Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony

• Carl Philipp Schröder, Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony

• Jan-Philip Steinmann, Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony